After 18 Years, She Was Worried They Wouldn’t Recognize Her, But Then This Happened

When Linda Koebner arrived at the chimpanzee habitat, she wasn’t sure how they were going to react. Sure, she spent several years with Doll and Swing, two former lab chimps, in the past while helping them acclimate to living on the outside. But that was 18 years before, when Koebner was a 23-year-old grad student.

In this clip from “Wisdom of the Wild,”you can see the emotional moment when the chimps recognize their savior and treat her like an old friend.

As Doll and Swing proved, animals attach a special importance to friendship. Check out more stories that focus on these meaningful relationships on the Argo Films website.